Solstice
by bettingonalice123
Summary: What if Edward had lost control that fateful day in Biology class? Read as he fights for his family, his future, and as his and Bella's love develops in a new and unexpected way. Written from aPOV, ePOV, bPOV as of now, but I might add more later.
1. Instinct

Alright, here it is, my first fic! I'm really really nervous about this, but I hope you like it! If you're interested in the story behind Solstice, just head over to my profile, where you can find updates on it, such as when I'm getting new chapters out, maybe sneak peeks into new chapters, and information on other stories that I've written. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, and I definitely do not own the excerpt in italics at the very beginning. That was copied from Stephanie Meyer's Midnight Sun, which is on her website.

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Chapter 1

_Bella Swan walked into the flow of the heated air that blew toward me from the vent._

_Her scent hit me like a wrecking ball, like a battering ram. There was no image violent enough to encapsulate the force of what happened to me in that moment. In that instant, I was nothing close to the human I'd once been; no trace of the shreds of humanity I'd managed to cloak myself in remained. I was a predator. She was my prey. There was nothing else in the whole world but that truth. There was no room full of witnesses-they were already collateral damage in my head. The mystery of her thoughts was forgotten. Her thoughts meant nothing, for she would not go on thinking them much longer. I was a vampire, and she had the sweetest blood I'd smelled in eighty years. I hadn't imagined such a scent could exist. If I'd known it did, I would have gone searching for it long ago. I would have combed the planet for her. I could imagine the taste…_

_(Excerpt from Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer)_

**Edward's POV**

That smell…my mind was spinning. Just 10 seconds to kill…one to bar the doors. The common sense in me fought it back, think of Carlisle, think of Jasper, but the monster that was being awakened, red eyed, maddened, was saying "Yes, Yes!" I was gripping the table like it could hold me back-I knew I could rip it apart in mere seconds. I was planning, thinking. I could feel my eyes going bloodshot. No! A mental battle was being fought between instinct and what was right. I could kill the right side of the room easily- necks snapped, skulls smashed. And I could do it without regret. They wouldn't see me coming-they wouldn't have time or need to scream. The left side of the room…with my speed, maybe they would have time for one quick scream- nothing that would send people running. The bloodlust was running through my body's every plane. Why couldn't this Bella have stayed where she came from? Did she come just to ruin me? It doesn't matter…just end it…the class was almost over…the monster won the battle.

I was flying faster than I ever had before. The first table was gone, the second, the third. Humans, with no idea their lives were ending. It was like a hunt, except more empowering, harder to stop. No, NO! The human in me screamed at me to stop, but human nature, or rather, vampire nature was too strong to stop. One girl, in awe with fear, began to scream, then her neck was broken, blood spilling across the tiled floor. Bella was backing up, eyes wide, backing herself away from me like I was a tiger, escaped from its cage and running rampant. And my predatory instincts were taking over- I was completely out of control. The instructor was long dead, there was nobody left alive. Except…I turned to her-my eyes wild with hunger, crouching…

**Alice's POV**

_(This part begins the period before Edward's biology class)_

Poor Jasper. He was struggling so much with his. Every moment of my attention, every thought of my visions were tuned into him. He, being the newest addition to our family, was taking this harder than Rosalie did. Rosalie…Rosalie is too vain to notice what she is…but Jasper…Every time he walks past a human with the slightest scent, you can just feel him tense up. I always stay right beside him to offer encouragement, or, if necessary, to hold him back. We were in a language arts class, and I was only paying half attention. I went still. My eyes glazed over and an inner image came to me. Jasper…luring the girl across from me…I shook my head to rid myself of it. I put a hand on Jasper's shoulder. He was warm with anticipation. He turned my way and I shook my head.

"Be strong." I mouthed. He nodded grimly, his mouth a thin, straight line. My hand found his, and after a quick glance around, I pulled it up to my mouth, just long enough to leave an impression. He sighed, exaggerating his breathing.

"I know." I whispered. "I know."

The class period ended and we walked out into the sea of people. My shoulder was touching his, keeping him close and letting him know I was here. I could feel him stiffen. It was almost too much for him, being around so many people at once, their scents overloading his senses. I nudged him, encouraging his down the hallway and out the front door. Time for a little senior skipping.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I heard Jasper saying.

"I just need to calm down." I looked deep into his eyes, the terror and resistance clear in his face, clearer than he thought. I walked him out to the lot, found Edward's Volvo in a second. I eased Jasper into it a place where he could be away from the crowds and just breathe. Already I could see his eyes calming, his body relaxing. I laid my hand on his face and thought as loudly as I could.

"Edward…Jasper..." Nothing else needed to be said. Edward would hear my thoughts and be out in a trice. I waited. Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed, but he didn't come. Panic was rising in my chest. Edward was always listening to make sure everything was alright with Jasper, so why wasn't he responding? My eyes went foggy and I saw Edward and...Oh my God.

I swore under my breath and Jasper glanced at me. I forced the pain, the anger back down and turned to face him. "Everything's alright," I said, pressing my lips to his neck and wishing with all of my heart I could mean it.

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Alright, well there it is. It's short, only two pages in word, which I'm really sorry about, I promise the next ones will be longer, I just do so love cliffhangers. I've already gotten the second chapter written, I'm just going to wait for a few reviews to post it. If you have any questions about the time lapses between Edward and Alice's POVs, please feel free to message me, it is awfully confusing, and I don't want to clutter up my space here explaining it. So, anyway, as a final note, please please please review!


	2. Visions

Yay Chapter two's up! This one is still kinda short, around three pages, but the next one I SWEAR will be at least five. The last line of this chapter just screamed at me to stop there, so I did. I'm still switching POVs, but I think I'll stick with just Edward, Alice, and Bella for awhile, but in late chapters I might add somebody else in there. Hope it's not too confusing! Read on!

One other thing-thanks sooo much for the support, guys! I love you all!

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Chapter 2

**Bella's POV**

The first thought that went through my head:

"Who, no, what is Edward?

He was a blur around the room, killing, murdering everybody in the biology class. Everybody dead, bleeding on the floor. Mike, Jessica, people I had just met, and those who I would never get the chance to. But the most dominant thought was,

"Why? Why is Edward doing this?"

He'd finished his "hunt" and turned to me, after ripping a leg off of one of the lab tables, jamming it into the door, locking everybody out. His eyes were wide; he was almost foaming at the mouth. I, being the genius I am, had backed myself against a wall, the #1 mistake in the prey handbook: never get cornered. I knew, without a doubt, that I was going to die. I could try to run, but with his obvious strength and speed…I'd have absolutely no chance.

None.

Edward's eyes were black. Coal black. Ten times darker than when I'd first seen him. He was crouched low to the ground, like a lion. He moved, slower toward me. Enjoying the time he had to kill me. His eyes…his expression…he looked…almost…hungry? Like I was a meal, long awaited. He was c\loser now. I closed my eyes, then opened then again, only to see Edward completely prepared to strike. I raised my hand to my face and let out a small shriek.

Edward paused, and I wondered subconsciously why my murder was being delayed. He backed up, reeling like he was about to pass out. HE came to the wall where I was leaning and placed his hands on either side of my head. He seemed to be holding his breath.

"Oh my God, Bella…Bella… Oh my God." The ability to say anything else seemingly deserted him. His face was down, his eyes closed. He opened them and looked into my eyes, just for a half of a second.

"Bella…" I noticed his eyes were fading from their coal black of a few minutes ago, now they were turning a…golden color? He moved away from the wall, having steadied himself, I assumed, and began pacing between the blood and corpses that lay all over the biology class's floor. Or what was left of the biology class. Tables were upturned one had only three legs, and, of course, there was the remains of our former classmates. Edward pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What to do…" He muttered to himself. "Someone will arrive for the next class in a minute."

He paced a few more steps.

"Alright." He sighed. "There's only one thing to do. And quickly."

Before I knew what was happening, he had picked me up, flung me unceremoniously over his shoulder and was flying out the door. We ran like this for only a few seconds (but long enough to make me feel sick), then we reached the parking lot, where sat, to my utter disbelief, a silver Volvo.

"A Volvo." I said. "You're kidnapping me in a Volvo?!"

I was graced with the wonderful gift of having a sense of humor always, even in the most dire times. Much to my dismay. Now was hardly the time to be making jokes. Of c course, I hardly knew what the time was. Edward was kidnapping me, that much was clear, but why? Where was he taking me? And most importantly, what was he?

**Alice's POV**

_(A/N: Just to clear a few things up-right now it is just the beginning of the biology class that Edward is in, which is why he won't respond, he's completely focused on Bella. I just wanted to make sure that time lapses didn't confuse anybody too much. Carry on)_

Thirty minutes gone. I had spent the entire class period waiting for Edward and trying to convince Jasper that nothing was wrong, that the vision I had seen was noting, but, of course, it wasn't. Edward has lost control. He had killed 17 people-16 students and the new girl…Bella? A new vision hadn't come to me, however much I tried to force one upon myself. Did he massacre the entire student body? Or had he not really done what I had seen? After all, I tried to console myself; he could have just temporarily made the decision, then talked himself out of it.

"Alice?" I heard a voice, talking to me from somewhere in the distance.

"Alice? Are you there?" I was pulled abruptly out of my little thought cloud by Jasper's words.

"I'm fine now Alice, we can go now."

Of course. I had completely forgotten Jasper was there. So strong was my worry for Edward, for our family that I had pulled out of the real world. I didn't do that very often (aside from my visions) and I think it worried Jasper. He was looking at my face critically, like he was trying to figure out what was running through my head. Too bad, I thought. You're not Edward. Speaking of Edward, where was he?

Jasper and I got out of the Volvo, trying to decide where to go. We could always go back to class, but where was the point in that when Edward was in such a fix? I could always go looking for him, but I didn't want to alarm Jasper unless absolutely necessary. So, I decide o take Jasper out into the woods behind the school. WE walked for at least two dozen miles, then an elk appeared just over the horizon. Jasper looked at me imploringly, and I settled down on a rock to wait. Jasper hadn't eaten in nearly a week, which was a stretch for him, and we were far enough away from the school to be safe. As he walked off, stalking the elk, I lay back on the glass to try to decipher the meaning of my vision, and, more importantly, what has happening next.

After Jasper had killed the elk and disposed of the remains, we were sitting in the grass together, enjoying peaceful companionship or a peaceful as it could e under the circumstances. Jasper was getting annoyed with me, I could tell, for not explaining to him what was going on, for I suppose it was obvious something was. The Volvo came to me in my mind. Edward was in it. So he was safe! I celebrated inside my mind. There was nothing to fear, he just…another image came to me. The backseat of the Volvo, the picture was foggy, but vaguely I could see the image of a girl. I jumped up and swore loudly.

Bella.

Jasper leaped up alongside me, grabbing my shoulders.

"Alice." He said it tenderly, but sternly. "Tell me what's going on."

I looked up into his loving, golden eyes.

"Edward …" I hated to tell him this. I hated to expose him to such pain, but I had no choice. I took a deep breath.

"He lost control in his biology class. He killed sixteen people. Seventeen, I thought at first, but he saved one girl. The new one. Bella. She's with him now. I have no doubt he's simply waiting for me to see the visions I have seen and come running with Emmett and Rosalie."

Jasper covered his face with one hand. I put my hand on my shoulder, and he shrugged it off.

"Then let's get Emmett and Rosalie," he said through clenched teeth, enunciating clearly. I couldn't tell if he was angry or sad. For a person who was so good at changing others emotions, his were certainly hard to read.

We stood up and walked back through he forest together, side by side, but far apart, the tension clear.

We made it back to the school in only 10 minutes. Super speed had its advantages, like when you needed to run nearly 25 miles before your younger vampire brother completely ruins your family's secretive life and gets everybody in the family killed. Of course, it wasn't Edward's fault. We all slip up, even Emmett. Even I. Of course, as slips went, this was a pretty big one. Jasper and I were standing in front of the main doors of the school.

"I'll get Rosalie." I said. "You go for Emmett. After you find him, run back here as fast as you can. We'll meet at the car. We only have so much time. Be quick."  
Jasper nodded grimly, then stalked off through the doors, quickly, but not so fast that anybody would notice anything abnormal. I sighed, then did the same.

Rosalie was in a Calculus class, way up on the second floor, at the farthest end of the hallway. I sighed. Did Rosalie plan to make \herself extremely hard to reach in a time of dire need? Of course, I could have always run up the stairs, down the hallway, been in the door, grabbed Rosalie, and be out by the front doors before anyone ever knew what was going on. But there were the typical junior skippers lounging around all over the place, and I didn't know how they'd react if they saw a pale blur with short black hair streaming down the hallway at extreme speeds. So, I, very undignifiedly, (A/N-I realize that undignifiedly isn't a word, but I'm making it one. It's an Alice word.) walked.

"And, why, exactly must you see Miss Hale?"

Of course, when I reached the classroom after nearly 3 minutes (walking, how do people stand it?) the teacher obviously found it to be his duty to interrogate me in every way possible before surrendering Rosalie. After trying, unsuccessfully, to explain that it was really really important, without exposing what was really going on, I came up wit the perfect words.

"There's been a family emergency." I enunciated the syllables in emergency, staring right into Rosalie's eyes as I did. She nodded, instantly understanding. Rosalie could be a real brat, but when you needed her most, she really could be there for you. But, as soon as she came next to me, I regretted thinking that. The first thing she said:

"So what did Emmett do this time?"

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Just one word to say-review?


	3. Decisions

Gah! If you don't mind me saying so, I love this chapter! I cried the entire time I wrote it…poor Alice, poor Jasper…it can be really intense if you let it be. Anyway, what are you doing still here? Get reading! (One last thing- I promise I'm sticking with Alice's POV for awhile, no more confusing switches! K?)

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Chapter 3

Alice's POV

I laughed in spite of myself. Loud, sputtering laughs, that sounded more forced than real.   
"Emmett," I said, "Didn't do anything!" I chuckled ruefully once more. Rosalie raised her eyebrows, looking at me oddly, then walked out in the hallway. I followed. The laughter had disappeared quickly, just as expected, really, how long could a laugh that only existed to keep you from bursting into tears last? Rosalie was walking slowly; she obviously hadn't realized how serious the situation was.

"Edward." One word and Rosalie's eyes grew wide. Her golden irises looked so odd with her blonde hair; it made her more beautiful than should possibly be allowed. Thank goodness nobody in school ever saw her when she was thirsty, her black eyes contrasted so much with that golden mane, every male in the school would be drooling. Rosalie knew it too.

"Edward…did he…?" I squeezed my eyes shut, blocking her face from my mind.

"Yes. He did. We have to go, Rosalie," I said, not wanting to discuss the subject more than was necessary. "Jasper's waiting for us. Hopefully he found Emmett by now."

As I had hoped, Jasper was walking past the stairs with Emmett in tow just as we were coming down them. Rosalie ran to him, then remembering we were there, stopped herself from planting a kiss on him, and settled for looping her arm through his. Emmett stroked her hair.

"Did you tell him?" I asked Jasper. He nodded.

"I still can't believe Edward would get himself into such a scrape," Emmett said. "It's just not like him."

"I can't either." I commented. "But that's not important now. We have to get to him. Now. I have no doubt he'll be quite irritated with us for keeping him waiting so long."

I took Jasper's hand, not caring if the others saw, knowing that the chance to might not last very long.

"Where was Emmett?" I leaned it to Jasper to whisper it into his ear.

"Out back. He was skipping." I nodded, knowing just how much Emmett despised sitting in classrooms doing nothing but taking notes and listening. Emmett was a very physical person. The only class he had never skipped, as was to be expected, was gym. He had shown up many young men in that class, I thought, remembering the day he did nearly one hundred pull-ups. Nobody had broken his record since. I looked over at Rosalie, draped over him, her arm around his, her hand flat on his chest. No wonder she loved him so much. She would be the one to fall for the tough, damsel saving, macho types. Not that I had anything against Emmett. He was...Emmett. No other way to say it.

Jasper was staring intently at me. His eyes were the lightest gold that was possible, his hair waved over one of his eyes. He was the most beautiful creature in this world and the next, as far as I was concerned. But I could tell something was wrong in his mind. He was…confused. But before I could figure out the puzzle, he spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me the second you had that vision?"

I started. This was the one question I didn't want to answer. Everybody in our family tried our hardest not to let Jasper know how much we tried to make his life easier for him. Jasper wasn't a newborn, far from it, but he had lived the majority of his life as a vampire feeding on humans. When we found him, his eyes were red, and it took all of our force to keep him from pouncing on every human he saw. He'd been doing better lately, but, it was still more difficult for him than any of us could ever understand.

"Jasper…" I looked straight into his eyes, pleading with him. "Does it matter?"

His eyes averted mine. He looked off into the distance, where the sky was blushing red, with one grey cloud floating off to our right. He sighed.

"I suppose it doesn't." He shook his head quickly, a smaller movement than anybody but myself could identify. I knew this wasn't the last time I would hear of it. I knew it wasn't fair to him, to hide him from the truth, but what choice did I have? I loved him too much to hurt him. Maybe I should love him differently. I sighed. I would tell him the truth. I would. It would have to be a different day thought. I made a mental promise to myself, to Jasper, that I would tell him the truth about him, about everything. Just another time.

Emmett tapped me on the shoulder.

"Shouldn't we be trying to get to Edward quickly instead of sitting here through a mini-soap opera?"

I rolled my eyes. Emmett always was the one to tease everybody, hated all of that romantic "crap", as he called it.

"Yes, actually, we should." I said back to him, picking up my pace, but still not running, for fear of somebody seeing. If we ever had a day to fear, it was today. Everybody else matched my pace and soon we reached the Volvo. I took a deep breath, then opened the passenger seat door. Edward was sitting in the driver's seat, his hands gripping the wheel, his mouth set into a thin line. His eyes were blazing. Bella was in the back, her eyes wide, her arms crossed across her chest. She looked more like a spoiled child than terrified, like she should be. Edward clearly wasn't about to begin giving orders, so I took control.

"Edward, scoot over, I'm driving. Jasper, Emmett, get in the back. Rosalie, you'll have to sit with Emmett. There's no room."

That was fine with Rosalie. She flopped down into Emmett's lap, threw her hands around his neck. But her eyes were scared, she was holding onto him for protection.

Edward had obediently moved into the passenger's seat, and I turned the car on, driving out of the school lot at 80 miles an hour.

I hit the main road, inching onto 130 miles an hour. I really didn't like to speed as much as Edward does, but in a serious situation like this, we didn't have a choice. I pulled in front of our house, and everybody jumped out, except Bella. She had sat silently the entire trip; I had almost forgotten she was there. Edward was streaming toward the door, Emmett and Jasper were going after him, and Rosalie and I were standing by the open doors, staring after them. Bella's face was down, and I felt a shred of sympathy for her.

"Come on." I looked in at her. "We have to go inside." I paused. "I'm sorry." What I was sorry for, I still wasn't sure about, but I knew that I would have reason to be soon. I'd had a vision as soon as we pulled into the driveway, and I knew Edward's plan. I knew what he had to do, and I knew Bella had no idea what was going to happen to her. She probably had a general idea, but she didn't know what we were. For all she knew, she'd just been kidnapped by a bunch of mythological creatures that weren't even supposed to exist. And I suppose that's what we were. Rosalie stalked off toward the door, leaving me to deal with the human. I grabbed Bella and steered her toward the house. She didn't resist, but she pulled away, determined to walk of her own accord. I shrugged, walking warily. She could try to run away, and even though I knew I could catch her easily, she didn't need to have any more terror. She'd already watched sixteen people die; she didn't need any more traumas. The door was standing wide open, and I saw Bella hesitate. I looked at her, and she glared back, walking through it. Carlisle and Esme were nowhere to be seen, I could hear Edward smashing something in his room, Emmett and Rosalie were sitting on the couch across from me, and Jasper had disappeared. He was probably breaking the news to Carlisle and Esme, he being the one who could keep them the calmest. Then again, I could hardly see then losing their cool, being as caring as they were. Jasper walked out of Carlisle's office, followed by Carlisle and Esme. Esme studied Bella, her eyes filled with concern, while Carlisle watched me. Their eyes never wavered, even as they sat. Then they glanced at each other, and I knew they were wondering the same thing that all of us were. What was going to happen to us?

Edward came back from his room, breathing deeply. His eyes were back to gold, but he was far from calm. He began pacing the distance between the stairs and the couch. All of our eyes followed him, back and forth, like trying to read a book, and truly, we were trying to read him. Jasper was trying to calm everyone down, but for once, it wasn't working as well as it should have. The tension was too strong for us to calm down, even by paranormal measures.

I heard Edward muttering something, too low for even us to hear. Bella glanced up sharply, her eyes on fire.

"As far as I'm concerned," She said sharply, "I deserve some answers."

Every face turned rapidly her way, eyes boring holes in her face, all of us were thinking the same thing, when did she get a right to talk?

"I should be dead right now. But since I'm not, I think all of you ought to tell me what's going on." She was standing now, staring straight at Edward. She was obviously thinking she had nothing to lose; she might as well speak her mind. Edward was sitting now, his face in his hands. Bella was close to tears.

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" A drop of water rolled down her cheek, and she wiped it away. "I suppose that's the way it has to be, isn't it? A human discovers the secret, and she has to be killed." It wasn't a question. She knew the answer. We all turned hesitantly toward Edward. It was his decision. Even Carlisle couldn't stop him from doing what he needed to at a time like this. We all held our breath.

"No." Edward's voice was too soft for anyone but us to hear. "NO!" He leaped up, running across the room. "I've killed enough today!" His voice became soft. "If I can save at least one life maybe that will count for something."

"Then what is to be done?" Esme's soft voice sounded out of place after Edward's outburst. Edward closed his eyes, composing himself.

"Carlisle, Esme…" If Edward could have cried, I'm sure he would've. "Take the Mercedes with Rosalie and head for Seattle. Now!" Rosalie lurched when she thought of leaving Emmett, but she knew now wasn't the time to argue, when Edward was like this. She pecked Emmett's cheek, then left with Carlisle and Esme. A few seconds later, we heard the Mercedes roaring out of the driveway. There was no time for questions. As to what the threesome would do when they reached Seattle was unknown, but we could trust them to make the right decisions.

"Alice, I need you to drive the Volvo. We should be able to reach Juneau by sundown tomorrow."

At the mention of Alaska's capitol, Bella began to look agitated. Then she jumped up. She glared at Edward. "You can't take me to Alaska!" Edward only glanced at her, then went back to his speech.

"We'll have to hide there until the danger is past. We have no choice."

Bella began to struggle, to try to run, to hide, whatever she could do. Edward only looked at Emmett and Jasper, and they picked her up, under the arms and carried her out the door effortlessly. I looked at Edward imploringly.

"Was that really necessary?"

He returned my stare.

"It was and you know it was. Now let's get going, shall we?" He held out his arm toward the door like a chauffeur. I shook my head as I walked out the door.

Edward was outside in a flash. Bella was standing between Emmett and Jasper, and they looked for all the world like two bodyguards, just there to protect the girl in between them. Irony had a habit of showing up in the strangest places.

"Edward…" I began, "Do we really have to do this?" I gestured toward Bella. "She didn't do anything, and she has family…"

At this reminder, Bella began flailing wildly.

"Charlie! I can't leave him! He'll have no…" Emmett put his hand over her mouth. She had been screaming, and the last thing we needed was some kind of kidnapping investigation. I looked at Edward imploringly.

"She has a point. Who knows how her father will react when she doesn't come home tonight?"

Edward began pacing again. He had an awful habit of doing that under stress. We had tried to break him of it many times, but we had no success. He threw his hands up in the air. "Great. Another complication. Life would be much easier if you kept your mouth shut, Alice."

The insult hit me like a ton of bricks. Edward teased me recklessly, for what reason, I had no idea, but he was serious this time. He wasn't just saying that to tell me to stop giving advice, he was implying so much more. Even if he hadn't mean it, to me, he was saying that I needed to back down, shut off my visions, and keep myself in that low-status stage that so many thought females belonged in. I could feel my eyes turning black with anger.

"Edward!"

Jasper was at my side in a second, holding me around the waist, firmly, but tenderly. I let myself fall back into his cold embrace, let his cool body relax and calm me. When I opened my eyes, Edward wasn't looking in my direction. He clearly had no intention of apologizing to me today. That was fine with me. I hated when any of us argued, and apologies seemed to make everything more awkward, so it was best just to ignore it. There had been a time about 10 years back when Emmett had said something (none of us knew what it was) that made Rosalie madder than a hornet. It took three of us to keep her from ripping Emmett's head off, and after that, she completely ignored him for the next four years. She said nothing to him, didn't acknowledge his presence in any place and none of us knew what to do. I shuddered, remembering. When you live eternally, you sure can hold a grudge. I had no intentions of holding a simple statement against Edward like that. I breathed in deeply, then exhaled, completely calmed down. In times like this it was so easy to say something you don't mean, then to completely overreact to it. Stress did that to us all. Vampires seem to react to it more than humans do; it's really an odd thing.

"Let's go." Edward was sliding into the passenger seat, and I was about to take hold of the steering wheel when something stopped me. Something wasn't right, something in the air. I raised my head skyward, trying to decipher the strange scent, repulsive. Emmett had sensed it too and was stalking around the yard.

"What is it?" Jasper asked, coming around the front of the car. Edward was still in the car, but I could tell that he knew about it too. I hadn't smelled something like this in a long time, the memory of it was buried somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind, but I couldn't pull it out. It was disgusting. Bella looked awfully confused, which was really no wonder since vampires are much more sensitive to smells than humans are. Edward yanked the door open, leaving it swinging on its hinges. His eyes were black again.

"What?" I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

He turned his head toward the woods to his left.

"Dog."

A huge grey wolf leaped into the clearing, forcing Emmett to the ground.

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There it is-the long chapter I promised AND a cliffhanger! YAY! I'll get the next one as fast as I can. Review?


	4. The Hunt

Here it is-chapter 4! I'm am soooooooooooooooooooo sorry this is so late, I got so busy and I didn't have time for Solstice, or any other story for that matter. But I hope you'll forgive me!

Another Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the character of Rosemary, who I made up.

A/N: I've tried really hard in this chapter to get Bella's character right, because I know I did a really bad job in the last chapter, but I've been researching. Namely, reading Twilight almost five times. So I'll do my best!

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**Alice's POV**

Even with Emmett's obvious strength, the werewolf overpowered him. The wolf had  
Emmett's arms held back with his front legs, his legs with his back. He was growling inarticulately. If only Carlisle was here to translate. We had no idea what he was trying to say. We didn't know why he was there. Then it dawned on me, suddenly and violently.

"Edward!" I breathed his name silently; he turned to me, completely calm despite the circumstances.

"The Treaty!" He realized it too, starting gently. Edward had completely unwittingly broken the treaty by killing a human, or rather, sixteen of them. Now, the wolves had license to kill every one of us. I prayed a silent prayer of happiness that Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie had gotten away safely. Jasper was still holding onto Bella. Her eyes were curious, not frightened, as she looked at the grey wolf leaning over Emmett.

A human walked out of the woods, a werewolf who hadn't phased. She was young, new member to the pack who we hadn't seen. Her skin was tanned and she had blood red hair. She looked at us intelligently, her head coked, eying us all.

"The girl comes with us." Her voice was like milk and honey, yet harsh and determined. She nodded to the wolf that was still straddling Emmett, who leaped up, taking his place by the girl's side. She waltzed over to Bella and grabbed her, pinning her arms behind her back. Her eyes turned back to ours.

"Rosemary." All of our eyes met each others and when we turned back to the spot where she was standing, she had disappeared. With Bella. We stood there for a few moments, gazing off in the direction they had gone. Edward was sitting on the hood of the Volvo, his head resting on one of his hands, the other pinching the bridge of his nose. He was obviously more frustrated than he let on to be.

"Well." Emmett said, getting up from the grass and brushing his clothes off. "Let's get a move on. We'll have to go quickly if we want to reach Alaska before those dogs get to us." He opened the back door of the Volvo, motioning for Jasper to join him. He didn't move, looking at me, waiting for command. I didn't know what to do. I was torn between family and a girl who had so unexpectedly and unwittingly been shoved into our lives. And what "those dogs" would to do Bella was completely unknown to me. Once again, I regretted not being able to see where the wolves were. Edward stared at me too, but I couldn't' issue the order I knew he wanted me to. Because family comes before everything else.

Always.

Bella's POV

_A/N: Yeah, I know I said I wouldn't switch, but I couldn't tell this part from Alice's POV and it was important that it was told, so…I apologize. _

The girl marched me through the forest. WE were traveling at a quick pace, too quick for me, and I tripped a lot, only to be tugged back up and forced on again. The greenness was unnerving, so bright I thought for sure there was no way it could have been natural. Someone must've painted every vine, every leaf with a neon paint that had gradually faded to the vibrant green of now. Then the colors swirled around my face, unnaturally close. A freezing wetness ran down my face. Surely I wasn't crying. I wasn't sad, I wasn't frightened. Then the world shifted back to its unnatural normal. I had tripped over a tree root and fallen face-first into a mossy puddle. That must be, what, number seven?

The girl, Rosemary, sat down on a tree stump, eyeing me curiously. I wasn't sure what to do, to run or just keep standing there like an idiot. Her gaze held me fast, running would've been impossible. Her eyes were grey, and almost clear. She didn't look at me patronizingly, just with genuine curiosity.

"You don't know anything." She said it as a question, assuming that the Cullens hadn't been kind enough to explain to me what was going on. Of course, she was correct.

"Darn. I thought I was doing such a good job at hiding my ignorance." Have I ever mentioned that I love sarcasm?

She pointed a condescending finger at me.

"Make jokes while you can. But soon you won't be able to. So enjoy it." She crossed her arms, cocking her head with a slight smile on her face. I felt like I was the butt of some inside joke I didn't know about. When I refused to speak, she continued.

"The Cullens. What do you know about them?"

I considered what I knew as fact. Not much, I realized, as I racked my brain for something good to say.

"Nothing except for the fact that they're insanely beautiful and obviously not human." Why was I explaining myself to this girl? This was the second time I'd been kidnapped in one day. That has to be a new record. Rosemary snorted.

"Of course. They would like to keep you stupid before they eat you. They dazzle you with their beauty and then…" She paused dramatically.

"So they're wild animals in disguise?" I knew that wasn't the answer, but, like I said, I do so love sarcasm. It's the one thing I can actually do well. Which doesn't really make up for the things I don't do well: lie, play sports and walk without falling on my face. It doesn't exactly add up.

Rosemary's lips were clenched. Clearly she wasn't used to being subjected to verbal abuse.

"I'll have you know, I will not be spoken to that way." Bingo. I had it exactly right. "But I suppose I should tell you everything. You were right on all accounts. The Cullens are insanely beautiful and they are not human." She paused, looking around the forest, making sure we were in a secure location. "The Cullens have been alive for decades, centuries for some. The one that took you…Edmund is it? Anyway, he's been alive since the early 1900s." She looked at me, expecting me to go into shock or something, but I had expected it. Actually, I had had a few theories about "Edmund", but those didn't matter now, as I was about to find out the real truth. Finally.

"Today Edmund broke an ancient agreement that has been around since the first one changed." Changed? "As long as they didn't cross our border line and didn't kill any human, we would let them stay here. But Mr. Edmund killed sixteen people. After we get back to the reservation I am sending out scouts to kill every one of them. Including the three they sent out to Seattle. I have five of the best trackers in the world. They will find them the hour I send them out." She shook her head. "Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. The Cullens. They're vampires."

I thought about laughing, but the sincerity on her face made it impossible to. She was serious. She meant it. Edward was a vampire. If that was so…that meant…Well, I don't think I would've had a problem with him drinking my blood, if it wouldn't have killed me that is. It makes me sick as it is.

"Well if the Cullens are vampires, what are you?"

She laughed; it was music. Just like the music box I had had when I was younger, the same twinkly tones.

"I, my dear, am human." She stared straight into my eyes. "Unless I get angry."

A picture of the Hulk came into my mind.

"Wolf. I believe your dear vampire friends called us dogs."

A werewolf. Well, that would explain the huge grey thing that had crashed into Edward's brother. He had stalked off earlier, going back to camp, I suppose, to ready the troops.

"So, let me get this straight. The Cullens are vampires, and you are werewolves. Well, where are the pixies and trolls?

She laughed again.

"Fairytales. Do you still believe the stories you read as a child?"

I didn't, I thought.

"Well, my dear, there's more of the story to tell. If you still want to hear it."

I nodded without hesitation.

"The Cullens claim to be what they call "vegetarian" vampires. They claim to feed only on animals of the forest. But, obviously, that is not true. Your Ed…Ed…" She shook her head. "He is extremely dangerous. That is why we must kill him. I suppose he will not be mourned, for there will be no one left to mourn him. The rest of his family will die at the same time. They think they can overpower us, and they could, but they think our pack is small. Little do they know how it has been growing, every person on the reservation has phased." Her eyes were darkening with anticipation. "Our pack now holds over twenty of us. How will they fare if they are surrounded by their worst enemy? Not as well as they think…Dear me, I've revealed too much to you. We must get going back to the reservation now. The pack will wonder where I've gone."

And with that, she swept off the ground with a fluid movement, stalking in the eastern direction, not looking back to check if I would follow, because she knew that I would undoubtedly be with her when she reached the camp. I hesitated, looking behind me toward the Cullen house. I had a choice: vampires or werewolves. I shrugged. Well, the werewolves have certainly been the nicer ones. I turned, without tripping, miraculously, and followed after Rosemary.

When I finally broke through the forest, having gotten lost at least three times, it was growing dark. The sunset was invisible through the clouds, except for a few silver edges along the smallest ones.

"Every cloud has a silver lining." I mused, too quiet for anyone else to hear. Well, where was the silver lining here? I racked my brain, trying to think of something. The fact that I had been exposed to a new mythological universe hardly could be considered a good thing. Well, I'd gotten the chance to exercise my sarcasm. There it is. The silver lining. And what a thin one it was.

For the first time, I noticed what was going on around me. A bonfire that stretched to the sky rose in the middle of the camp. All around stalked wolves, different colors, black, grey and white. Some were practicing attack maneuvers with others, while some were lazing around the fire. A human, or who appeared to be a human, walked across the yard, raising his arms and shouting, shaking. He was immediately replaced by a grey wolf, the same one who had been with Rosemary at the Cullen's. Rosemary spotted me, stalking across the yard toward me.

"You took your time getting here. Got lost a few times, did you?" She seemed to think the thought was humorous. The grey wolf took her side, rubbing his head against her leg.

"Oh, I don't think you've met Sam. He's the second in command here."

Second? Surely the largest of all of the wolves would be the leader. I looked around the yard for another macho-male type wolf that could possibly be the leader.

"You're looking in the wrong direction, dear."

So that was it. Rosemary was the leader of the pack. A female.

"Stand back. I've got to change now to lead. You don't want to get hurt. Oh, and don't take it personally if I don't talk to you after this. Wolves can't talk to humans."

And with that phrase, she disappeared, enveloped in a shining cocoon. I obediently took a few steps away. Then she appeared in her wolf form.

Her fur was red, like blood, as though it had been stained from a thousand battles. She was smaller than most wolves, but as she walked, she absolutely radiated importance. Her fur was thick, and rolled across her muscles in rolling waves, like the oceans'. The wolves were getting excited now. They were finally getting to be able to do what they've been longing to for a long time, to kill the vampires. A few let out gentle growls, the younger ones yipped. But when Rosemary took her place at the front of the fire, all went still. She looked to her left, then to her right, then put her nose up to the sky and howled. The rest joined in, a chorus of the hunt.

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Well, now Bella knows the truth and the wolves are going to kill the Cullens. What will happen next? You'll have to wait and find out!

Please review!


	5. Newscast

Well, I told you guys I'd do my best and I did!!!! Here is chapter five-probably the only one for a couple months, sorry!! This chapter is most definitely below par, so I apologize wholeheartedly. I'll try to write as often as I can but no promises. Okie?

Well, read!!!!

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**Bella's POV **_(I feel the need to remind you which POV I'm on, just so you know.)_

A strange energy resonated through the clearing with every piercing howl. Crackling energy that tapped every corner, every space. The temperature seemed to be dropping where I was standing, right next to the dark forest. The wolves ceased howling, an uneasy silence settling. Rosemary looked to her left, then to her right, then stalked off, toward the woods. Two wolves would join her on either side, two paces back, repeating, until every wolf was in a formation, shaped like an arrow, an arrow that would pierce the hearts of seven tonight. And for some inexplicable reason, I felt like crying.

And like those expected tears had clouded my vision, even though my eyes were dry, the world blurred to an extreme standard. I was trying to compare this feeling to something. Something that, deep in the recesses of my mind, I remembered. Earlier today…Edward had carried me like this, at this speed. My mind spun. Had all of that really happened only today? It was twilight now. _(A/N: lol, when I typed twilight for the first time I instinctively capitalized the first letter. Go figure.) _Had all of the events of today really happened in only one day? It seemed impossible. And as I thought of these things, and heard the sounds behind me, I knew what must have been happening.

He stopped and set me down on the ground, next to a tree, which I graciously leaned my weight against. He stood, unmoving, at least to what I could see. His outline was rimmed with purple, the result of an evening sky that darkened the world and lit up its sky. This wasn't Edward, and yet I knew him. His name escaped me, but he was one of them. _Them. _

Snarls and hisses echoed from the clearing that I had just exited. A battleground, an unexpected one. The heat derision that I had felt was from the four of them crowding around, just out of the wolves' sight line. One of them picked me up while the other three fought. Just who it was, I didn't know yet, but he would no doubt reveal his identity soon.

And despite the circumstances, an unnatural calmness settled over me. I no longer feared for the wolves or their attackers, for myself, or for my future. And for what reason, I didn't know.

And then, as quickly as the calm had seized me, an overwhelming tiredness caused my head to droop and my eyes to close gently, but I snapped them back open. It's only natural that I would be tired after so much….my mind blurred and then there was nothing.

"Is she awake yet?"

The voice barely registered in my head. My mind was in a fog. I tried to open my eyes, but they were glued shut. I tried to say something, but it came out sounding more like "mmlllp" than anything comprehensible. My throat was dry, burning in the back. And my stomach ached with hunger. _This must be it_, I thought. _Rosemary was right…_ I wanted to sleep again, but I forced myself to resist.

"Edward. We need to leave." A calm, but piercing male voice rang out of the darkness I was living in.

"We can't endanger our own lives because of a _human _who randomly appeared in ours." If I would have been able to make any normal thought processes, I would have been indignant.

"Do you honestly think staying in a hotel is going to deter the wolves any more…?" His phrase was interrupted by a loud and rumbling growl. This time, my eyelids met no resistance in trying to open. I flushed subconsciously. Both of them were looking at me, the blond one and Edward, who turned his eyes away, looking at the wall. Another one walked in, this one big and burly.

"What was that?" He inquired, his voice full of confusion and humor.

They all looked at me.

"Nothing…" I murmured, sinking my head down under the blankets which I was under.

They continued staring.

I muttered to myself, too low for them to hear,

"Well, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast that morning however many days ago it was. What do they think it is?"

Or so I thought.

The blond one looked up, saying "Emmett, get Alice and have her order room service." He nodded and left the room. I sunk further down, my head almost submerged in the sea of silk. My cheeks burned with fire.

He turned the television on.

A picture of a reporter in a blue suit, holding a microphone came onto the screen. She finished her last sentence, coming upon a new story. As I read the headline, horror spread through me.

"A shocking incident, uncommon to our little town of Forks, has shook the town, leaving it confused and afraid. A tragic incident at Forks High has caused all of this ruckus. Here's Bill Chapman to explain." The screen flashed from the newsroom to the outside of the school, a man, Bill, apparently, standing in front of it.

"Indeed it is tragic, Charlene. Three days ago, an average school day started. But, sadly, sixteen students in a junior level biology class have been killed. Monday morning, at approximately 1:30, the police received a call from Forks High, a hysterical 11th grader who had stumbled upon this mass murder scene when simply trying to go to her next class. When police arrived on the scene, they saw a frightening thing; bodies strewn across the floor, coated with blood. The suspect fled the scene, the police expect, into the woods _(A/N: One of my favorite musicals!!! Ahem…sorry for ruining the mood. Carry on) _behind the school. Two students, curiously were missing." A picture flashed onto the screen, one of me nearly four years ago, my freshman year back in Phoenix. "Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen. Whether the two are still alive is unconfirmed. It is suspected that the suspect may have come to the school seeking these two, and has taken them with him on his wild dash for escape." The scene split, the man now sharing it with the woman back in the studio. "A shame it is. If you have any information, please contact the Forks Police Force for help with this case." The man began speaking again. "Now, why do you think, Charlene, that something like this could hap…." The blond shut off the TV.

"Whether the two are still alive is unconfirmed." He repeated in gently mocking tones.

"One of them shouldn't be." I knew they would hear me, even though I said it softly and into the blankets. And, as I expected, both their eyes flashed to me, Edward's filled with horror and agony. _(A/N: Another great song from into the woods! Okay, no more interruptions. Sorry.) _We sat in silence for a few minutes before a girl with black-pixie-like hair burst through the door, carrying a tray. This, I presumed, was Alice. She sauntered boldly over to where I way lying in bed, plopping the tray down on the bed. I looked over it hesitantly, then more surely as I found nothing wrong with it. Two slices of toast, a waffle and a glass of orange juice. And despite the fact that my stomach flipped when I saw it, I couldn't bring myself to touch or eat the food that they had supplied. I shook my head when I saw her eyes on mine. She cocked her head, narrowing her eyebrows, then got up and left the room, leaving the tray on my bed. I sorely wanted to throw the tray off the bed, letting the food and the drink splat on the floor, but one of them would probably catch it before it hit the ground, not a single thing broken. I cursed in my mind. The news story's facts had finally caught up to me. I'd been out for nearly three days, and I was presumed dead or kidnapped. Charlie is probably freaking out at home…

"We really do need to leave soon, Edward." The blond one (as he'd officially been dubbed in my mind) spoke again. "We can't stall forever. Get a grip!"

Edward looked up.

"Tomorrow night. Tomorrow night we'll leave. Okay, Jasper?" He was clearly exasperated with the situation he was in. I couldn't really blame him. I was getting a little frustrated myself. Just a little.

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There we go! A chapter! Semi-longish, decent, I suppose and I'm officially dropping my cliffhanger thing until I know for sure that the next chapter is coming soon. I hope to get the next one out sometime in the next month or two…sorry about the waits!! Please review?!?!


	6. Volvo Abuse

First of all-ignore my extremely lame attempt at a funny chapter title. You'll get it later.

On another note, I am sooo supremely sorry that this took so long to write. I just got distracted, forgot about everything and just kind of melted down. But now I have all of my work OFF the laptop and on the actual computer, which should help, no more searching for stupid wireless internet! I'm really going to try to do better, definitely not daily updates, but maybe one every week or two? I'm trying to finish my homework (gag) before I get home so I have time to write, which so far, I've been succeeding in, but…who knows… no promises, but I really hope you'll wait for the chapters and not give up on me!!

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**Bella's POV**

True to his word, Edward decreed that we leave the night after. I still hadn't eaten anything, simply because I was repulsed at the thought of eating anything that was supplied by vampires. At precisely eleven the next night, they all walked toward the door, like a silent command had been given. I was still in bed, due to my complete lack of energy and my complete inability to move. Emmett, as I had learned his name to be, came back to where I was lying and picked me up, slung me over his shoulder, and carried me out the door, to the parking lot, and sat me down in the Volvo. He and Jasper climbed into the back one either side of me, Alice and Edward in the front. Edward drove, Alice sat in the passenger seat. Edward leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose, as was usually his position. He shook his head gently, then pulled out of the lot with his headlights off.

How long we'd been driving, I didn't know. How long I had been on this dark road with no light to guide the way, I didn't know. How I had survived for nearly a week and a half without food, I didn't know. I was ravenous. And every time I realized my hunger, I thought of _them_ and how they must feel after a week without food. But that always made me shiver and made everyone in the car look at me. So I did everything I could to draw my thoughts away from my hunger. I tried thinking of home, but when I found a tear rolling down my face I quickly dissolved that thought. Crying was unacceptable now. I had to stay strong. I wouldn't let them see I was weak. I couldn't.

Evidence shown by the traffic signs, we were in Canada now. We crossed the border fifty five minutes ago. I had resigned myself to counting, seconds, minutes and hours. It would make me mad, but I wouldn't think of what I was missing. Or them. We'd passed Vancouver, on our way to Alaska. Alaksa. Cold, unfeeling Alaska. Like them. They hadn't said a word the entire trip, moved, but I had the feeling that they were communicating. A slight nod of the head, widening of the eyes, subtle things that most others wouldn't pick up. But that's all I could do. Watch and think. Communication like that was going on now. The way Edward's head was cocked and how Jasper was leaning forward. Some exchange was going on here.

Then, with such force and suddenness that I was slammed into the back of the seat in front of me, Edward pulled off the rode. He stopped right at the edge, not a tire over the curb. How he did that, I had no idea. But he yanked his door open, Jasper and Emmett leaving around me. They were all on the opposite side of the car. No words were said. But, Alice, still in the passenger seat, stayed behind while the others disappeared into an invisible wood on a dark highway. I sighed internally, leaning back against the seat, calculating my odds of escape. I imagined myself sprinting down the highway…then falling down. Maybe I should hide in the forest until they decided to leave, but there would be no way to get home. I was over one hundred miles away from home. Shaking my head, I rid myself of the thought. I closed my eyes, continuing the count.

Fifty seven minutes, forty eight seconds. Forty nine seconds. Fifty. Fifty one.

I continued counting until I reached sixty. A full hour away from home. Only an hour to drive one hundred miles. Vampires had super speed; did they need absurdly fast cars as well? I opened my eyes gradually, finding myself staring straight into two dark gold eyes. Alice was turned slightly around in her seat, gazing at me with the curiosity that only she could possess. Her gaze was intoxicating, I couldn't pull away from it, couldn't avoid it. Her eyes weren't cruel, like Edward's, but they still frightened me.

Then I realized she wasn't really looking at me anymore. Her gaze was in the same place it was before, on me, but it was like she was looking inside me, her eyes glazed over.

Then she was really looking at me again. She half-looked up, then got out of the Volvo, coming around to my side at a false human speed. She yanked my door open, standing behind it.

"Get out of the car."

Her voice held a certain humor that I couldn't decipher.

I looked to my sides, confused.

"Just do it."

Still the same tone of humor.

I did as she said, standing in the middle of the highway. She pulled me back a few feet, completely out of line of the door I just exited. Me, still confused, just stumbled along, eyes wide with puzzlement.

Alice looked skyward. "We still have about five minutes…" she mused.

I decided to take a chance and ask a question.

"Five minutes to…?"

It appeared that she suddenly became aware of my presence.

"Oh. I completely forgot. You have no idea about me, do you?"

"Hmmm…" She continued speaking. "I'm not sure Edward would want you to know…mmm." She shook her head gently, her black, spiky, pixie-like hair falling in little waves over her eyes.

"I suppose…no…maybe…uhuh." After every "Maybe" her eyes would glass over, then she'd deny the plan. It was like she was seeing the result of her possible decisions.

"Damn."

I was surprised at the curse, completely random and unexpected. But then, I saw her reasoning.

A deafening crack of thunder sounded out and Jasper appeared, flying from some impossible force, from out of the woods, crashing into the closed door of the car. He fell limp, sliding off of the door, leaving a huge dent in the silver Volvo. I stared as Edward appeared from the woods, his breaths coming in angry pants, glaring at Jasper with eyes that could have bled, had that been possible. He continued walking toward Jasper, looking like he had the intentions of murder, but Alice intervened.

"Stop it, Edward."

His eyes still smoldered.

"Just stop it. This is stressful for all of us. The last thing we need to do is turn against each other. Carlisle is expecting us back when things are safe. _All _of us."

She paused.

"Breathe, Edward."

He glared at her.

"I meant that metaphorically."

He closed his eyes. A deep breath sounded from his chest, expanding the same muscles that had killed sixteen, should've killed me, could've killed his brother. I shuddered, near the breaking point. Driven mad from avoidance of memories, falling into a chance near-death situation with a vampire, and ending up near starvation by choice certainly could do that to anybody.

Emmett appeared from the dark woods, taking in the scene, a slight grin on his face. Alice turned to him, distracting herself from Edward momentarily.

"Emmett?" She said, giving a small gesture with her head toward the Jasper-shaped dent in the car.

He gave a gentle nod, that silly grin still on his face, and opened the damaged door that was across from me. He gave it a quick glance, then pressed, what appeared to be gently, on the bump on the inside of the door. A loud "pop" sounded out, then, when the door was closed; it appeared that nothing had ever happened to it, except for a few miniscule scratches in the paint.

**Edward's POV **

Shame.

Complete and utter shame.

The only things that I felt at this point.

What it was that Jasper and I had fought about, I didn't want to recount, but my reaction was unforgivable. It was more like something Emmett would do. But this time, it turned out that Emmett was the one fixing it, and I was the problem that needed fixing.

To avoid thinking about what had happened, I was scanning, intrusively, through my family's thoughts.

_Edward, that jerk._

…_Jasper. Hopefully he's not too hurt…_

…_way out of line. I shouldn't have said…_

_Stupid highway. Gotta reach home before sunup…just passed twenty mile marker…two hundred miles to go…_

The random thoughts startled me. The twenty mark…we'd just passed that sign half a minute ago. Some human was out at this time of night, trying to get home, driving in the same direction that we were…

I barely had time to react when the red Corvette swung around the bend.

_(A/N: I __**almost **__ended the chapter here, but I decided I owed you guys more than that for the long wait. So I continued)_

Instinct.

Instead to kill, to save. Running around the car. I grabbed Bella by the arm and slung her on top of the car. At the same time, still holding onto her arm, I swung around the back of the car, avoiding getting hit by the car going nearly as fast as we normally drive. I winced as I heard the loud 'clang' from the Corvette driving just a little too close, the right mirror lay shattered on the highway.

When the car disappeared, I pulled Bella off the top of the car, swinging her down against my knee, my arm supporting her back. Then, realizing the awkward situation I had just placed myself into, I, very ungracefully, dropped her. I took a few steps backward, keeping my face away from her.

**Bella's POV**

It wasn't until my head hit the pavement that I realized what had happened.

Why had Edward saved me? They intended for me to die anyway. Was Rosemary wrong? Impossible. She knows. Her life is shaped around this family, she knows their intentions. Or does she?

Were they really as evil as she made them out to be?

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There you go! A chapter! I definitely enjoyed writing this, and I'm really glad that I FINALLY got it out! Lots of Volvo abuse, a little bit of awkward chemistry, maybe romance coming up soon? Nah, not divulging my secrets. But I really really really hope you'll review and that you're not too mad at me for not posting in so long! I promise to do better!


	7. Author's Note

First Note: This is NOT a new chapter, just another author's note, but this one has a happier tone.

As you all know, my stories have all been on a hiatus recently because I've had sooo many things going on. BUUUT….

School is almost out!! (screams) As such, the summer is just around the corner and I will be able to write a heck of a lot more. If we're lucky, during the summer months you all will be getting a chapter every two or so days and I may even finish during that time period. But, we only have two weeks left of school (hallelujah), so if you all can wait just that long for a new chapter and not totally abandon me, I would be eternally grateful. (and show it with those quick updates!!)

bettingonalice123


	8. Chapter Preview, Need Opinions!

**Okay-this is not a new chapter.**

**Yet.**

**I wrote the start of the chapter in both Bella and Edward's POV and I'm having issues deciding which to post the chapter in. The previews are extremely short, but I was hoping you guys could help me decide which to write the chappie in. Even if you only post just "Bella" or "Edward", I'll really appreciate it. And It'll help me get the real chapter out sooner. **

**I personally like Edward, but just review with whatever you think. **

**Please please please help me out here!!**

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**Bella's POV**

I ate for the first time last night.

Alice brought me the meal that she always managed to find, somehow, on this deserted highway, and I didn't think about it, just…dug in, so to speak.

It was delicious, whatever it was. But that may just have been the fact that I was starved out of my mind and dirt would've probably tasted delicious.

Part of it was that I, for some unknown reason, trusted the Cullens just a bit more than I had before. Maybe it had something to do with Edward saving me. Maybe it didn't.

We'd been driving for another…six hours or so, so we were probably close to Alaska.

I shook my head thinking about it. Alaska.

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**Edward's POV**

I kept my eyes on the road, resisting the urge to look behind me at Bella.

So I compromised. I glanced up in the rearview mirror, as quickly as I could.

One arm was crossed across her chest, and she seemed to be contemplating something.

Before my mind could wander into what those contemplations may contain, I distracted myself. My eyes fell on the clock, the green numbers glowing only slightly in the gentle sun of the early morning.

It was 6:12.

I guess I should find that humorous, that I had driven halfway across a continent in seven hours. But I didn't. If it hadn't been for Jasper and Bella, I could have been to Alaska within a day. But, it didn't appear we would get there quite that soon.

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Thank you guys soooo much for your help!!


	9. Fort Nelson

**Alrighty. Though you guys were very helpful in your decision-helping-me-making-ness, we ended up with a tie. Which sucks. Now, I could put it up to another poll and see what happened, with a longer preview, but I decided I owed you guys more than that. So, I'm doing something I swore I would never do-I'm writing the chapter from both Edward and Bella's. **

**The things I do for you guys.**

**Two other things I want to say:**

**Firstly, I simply cannot believe how much I love you guys! I never would've believed that you all would still care after I totally abandoned you for like six months, and yet you're still here!! It gets me all teary eyed thinking about my fans, if I can even call you that. This is why I'm giving you a gift-so to speak. I'm going to be (at least trying to be) updating this story at least every three days during the summer. I'm going to try my hardest and you have my permission to send death threats should I break this promise. **

**Secondly, (dang, this author's note is long), I have a poll on my profile as to what I should title my newest story, that hasn't been posted yet. I mainly did it because of my sister, but I figured it would be entertaining. So please, after you read this, take thirty seconds and go over there and vote on it! **

**I know you don't know the plot of it yet (unless you read Revelation), but just go ahead and vote for which title sounds most appealing. **

**Thank you all so much and I'm sorry this is so long. To my fans who actually sit there and read these infinitely long author's notes-I love you even more!!**

**This chapter will be Bella's POV; the next will be Edward's.**

**Last thing-I just want you all to know that all of the towns mentioned and all times it takes to get there or from there is 100 true. I did tons of research and calculating. Just so you know.**

**Sorry this is so long-read read read!**

--

**Bella's POV**

I ate for the first time last night.

Alice brought me the meal that she always managed to find, somehow, on this deserted highway, and I didn't think about it, just…dug in, so to speak.

It was delicious, whatever it was. But that may just have been the fact that I was starved out of my mind and dirt would've probably tasted delicious.

Part of it was that I, for some unknown reason, trusted the Cullens' just a bit more than I had before. Maybe it had something to do with Edward saving me. Maybe it didn't.

We'd been driving for another…six hours or so, so we were probably close to Alaska.

I shook my head thinking about it. Alaska.  
I'd only lived in Forks a single day, and the next thing I knew, I was being trucked off to Alaska.

Alaska Alaska Alaska.

No matter how hard I tried, I simply could _not _keep that word out of my head.

Alaska.

And Charlie. Charlie had absolutely no idea where I was, I was presumed dead to the town of Forks, or at least kidnapped, probably never to be seen again. Of course, I was kidnapped, but that was really beside the point.

We had recently driven straight through a little town called Fort Nelson. Of course there had been no stops, Edward just kind of…blazed through it, barely giving any time to look around, to even see what the town looked like.

It was smaller than Forks though, if that was even possible.

The landscape outside was incredibly…white. Snow covered everything. And I don't think I'd seen a tree since we'd actually left Forks. I found myself missing those trees, oddly. I preferred the trees to the cold, wet stuff. I'd never actually seen snow before, but it definitely wasn't as amazingly majestic as they made it out to be. More like amazingly blinding. It reflected the bright sun so well that you couldn't look out the windows for more than half a second.

And it was cold. I guess the others couldn't feel the temperature or something, because there was practically no heat on in the car, but I was freezing. I had on a thin jacket, that had been preparation for a rainy day in Forks, that didn't hold heat in at all, but I still stuffed my hands inside of it as best I could, trying to keep my fingers from falling off.

Maybe that was an exaggeration, but I was used to _heat. _And I could actually _see _my breath _inside the car. _And I have absolutely no idea why nobody seemed to notice it. Maybe they didn't care.

That seemed rather likely.

Alice, sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly tilted her head up, her eyes alert. She leaned over toward Edward, talking to him in a quiet tone, too fast for me to understand.

He paused for a moment after she stopped talking, then nodded.

Alice leaned back behind the seat then, whispering something to Jasper, who sat on my right side. Then she handed him a small, nondescript black shape.

Then she turned back around, making no other movements.

Well, that was odd.

It was another one of those weird secret exchanges they had on an extremely regular basis. I guess being in the dark shouldn't bother me so much, but it did.

Extremely.

Especially when the plans they were discussing could involve my life or death.

"Bella?"

Jasper was speaking to me, holding out the black object that I now could see was a cell phone.

"We need you to call your father. He needs to know…well, not where you are, but that you're okay. Tell him whatever works."

I took the phone, hesitating.

I had the power in my hand, in that moment, to fix everything. Right then and there, I could dial the police station number and tell them what had happened. My kidnappers would be punished and I would be saved. I easily could.

But something was stopping me.

It wasn't so much the stares from every person in the car except Edward, though that added a bit more pressure.

It was this weird loyalty I felt to them. For an instant, I convinced myself to go along with their plan and tell Charlie some lie that would calm him down, so they could drag me off wherever they were planning to and do whatever they were planning to do with me.

In that instant, I chose to, potentially, ruin my own life.

I opened the phone, staring for a moment at the blank screen. It had no background, only white, with no words on the screen except a battery power notification and a symbol stating that the phone was on silent.

I paused again, then dialed the number for the Forks Police Station with one hand.

I lifted the phone to my ear, trembling.

"Forks Police Station. How may I help you?"

A female voice answered.

"Um…is Chief Swan there?"

I stuttered on the first word.

"Please hold."

The line went silent, buzzing gently. I silently prayed he wouldn't come to the phone.

"Chief Swan here."

"Um…Dad. It's me."

I swear the pause that followed lasted an hour.

"Bella?"

I nodded, then, realizing that he couldn't hear me, managed to squeak out a "yes".

"Bella!" He cycled through probably forty different question starters-when, where, how, what-before he finally decided what to say.

"Where are you?" Are you okay?"

My throat was thick. I swallowed, deliberating in my mind what to say next. This was, quite literally, either the end or the beginning of the rest of my life. And I had no idea which choice would mean which.

I closed my eyes, then spoke, keeping them closed. I had no idea why I was doing this.

"I'm fine, Dad. I…Mom came and got me before Biology. She said…"

What was I doing?

"She said she hadn't had enough time to say goodbye to me. I'm with her. In Jacksonville."

Precisely the opposite of what was going on. I was smack in the middle of the Yukon Territory with a coven of vampires.

Why was I trying to protect them?

"You're with...Renee?" He seemed to be having an issue grasping my lie. Which I could hardly blame him for.

"Yes."

I heard him sigh, not so much a sigh of relief as much as a sigh of anger and frustration.

"Bella, do you know that we're all going crazy up here? You've been missing for over a week! Why did you just now think to call me? Let me talk to Renee."

Too many questions at once.

"Yes. I'm sorry. Look, Dad, I need to go. I'll call you later."

I snapped the phone shut against my one and only chance to be free.

-

It took me awhile to realize that I was crying.

The cold wetness that was running down my face, to me, felt like the snow that was falling had simply gotten into the car somehow, not that it was coming from my own eyes.

I was hunched over, in a position I had found myself in a lot recently, one hand cupped over my mouth, an arrangement that I didn't remember placing myself into.

More deliberations were going on between the vampire family, but I didn't seem to care this time.

Edward swung the car around, not as violently as he usually did, in an illegal u-turn on the highway, traveling in the opposite direction that we had been going before.

I should have been confused, should've cared where we were going, but I didn't.

And, of course, the one time I didn't care, they felt the need to inform me of what was going on.

"We're going to stop back at Fort Nelson, take a rest. We'll be back on the road by morning tomorrow."

I didn't look up to see who was speaking.

It took us only about fifteen minutes to get back to the small town. The sign that marked our entrance showed a black bear with a large sentence underneath-

"**Fort Nelson. Home to many kinds of Canadian wildlife."**

It went on to list over forty different species of animals that apparently resided right in the town.

Well that would explain a lot about their choice to stop for awhile.

There was a small inn on the opposite side of the town, this one we stayed in. Alice was the one who rented the room, insisting on the largest suite, with six double beds.

Like they would need any of them.

The suite was on the top floor, the third, which seemed to be a pretty short top floor to me, and was extremely spacious. It had a huge kitchen, one so big it couldn't possibly be called a kitchenette, and the six double beds that Alice had payed so richly for.

I immediately sunk down onto one of the beds, facedown, the floral pattern engulfing me. I didn't care that they were staring-I was simply exhausted. I could hear quiet sounds of the four talking before I drifted off.

--

**Whew. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I pretty much forced it out. But, there's a chapter.**

**Two things you need to remember to do-**

**Review!**

**And**

**Go vote on my poll!  
I appreciate it so much! The next chapter might be out sometime today, if we're lucky!**

**Thank you all so much for your support!**


	10. Chatspeak and Penthouses

**Here is the next chapter! It's pretty much a rewrite of the last chapter from Edward's POV, but it is still interesting since he has a different take and a lot of different things happen to him in this chapter than to Bella. Thanks for reading!**

**Another thing: My wonderful, wonderful sister (who I love very very much despite what she's told me) has pointed out a whole bunch of "kinks" in my story. Which I have to agree with her on, there are billions of kinks-that being the only word I can use to describe it. I know there are lots and lots of things I've forgotten about, left out, or happened to early or too late or without cause, but I am trying really really really hard to fix it as best I can. Please be patient with me. **

**And if you haven't voted on my poll, be sure to!**

**--**

**Edward's POV**

I kept my eyes on the road, resisting the urge to look behind me at Bella.

So I compromised. I glanced up in the rearview mirror, as quickly as I could.

One arm was crossed across her chest, and she seemed to be contemplating something.

Before my mind could wander into what those contemplations may contain, I distracted myself. My eyes fell on the clock, the green numbers glowing only slightly in the gentle sun of the early morning.

It was 6:12.

I guess I should find that humorous, that I had driven halfway across a continent in seven hours. But I didn't. If it hadn't been for Jasper and Bella, I could have been to Alaska within a day. But, it didn't appear we would get there quite that soon.

I scanned through the thoughts of the car's occupants, seeing if there was anything that needed to be known, but there was pretty much nothing. Nobody was thinking anything. Emmett, being the odd one out, as would be expected, was thinking something, but it was merely trivial thoughts about the white landscape.

Alice's thoughts perked up, though, after a moment. She'd just realized something. She leaned over toward me, whispering.

"Bella'll need to call her father."

I paused, thinking for a moment, then nodded, pressing my cell phone into her awaiting hand.

She turned to the right, leaning toward Jasper and he leaned forward to hear her. Even though they were still whispering, I could hear them, though I presumed Bella could not.

'Bella needs to call her father, tell him… I don't know, something that'll make sure he won't worry. Give this to her."

And she handed him the phone, holding her hand against his just a bit longer than was necessary for the exchange of an object.

Jasper looked at the phone for a second, then extended his hand toward Bella, who sat to the left of him.

"Bella?"

She looked toward him, seemingly startled that he was speaking, much less speaking to her.

"We need you to call your father. He needs to know…well, not where you are, but that you're okay. Tell him whatever works."

She hesitated, then took the phone.

_Edward! Are you crazy? She could call the police station and easily rat us out! I_

Emmett's thoughts reached me in a frenzy, much louder than one could've thought possible for mere thoughts.

I looked over at Alice, letting my eyes tell her what I wanted.

She paused for a few seconds, then shook her head confidently.

Emmett saw, sinking back into the seat, not so much defeated as reassured.

Bella lifted the phone to her ear. I hadn't even noticed her dial.

"Um…is Chief Swan there?"

She stuttered.

There was a pause. Jasper was cringing under her anxiety, Alice keeping her eyes on Bella at all times.

Another pause-a separate one from the one before. I could hear her heart beating faster.

"Um…Dad. It's me."

More silence.

The Bella nodded, saying "yes" so quietly that_ I _almost didn't hear her.

This was the pivotal moment. About halfway through the conversation she was already, though most of the conversation was held on the other line, and this would be the moment where she would either betray us or lie. Not like she really had a choice. Emmett was prepared, if she showed any signs of deceiving us, though it could hardly be called deceiving, to smash the phone to keep her from lying. Anything.

"I'm fine, Dad. I…Mom came and got me before Biology. She said…"

Bella paused. A single tear ran down her face, blossoming on the corner of her mouth, which was trembling.

"She said she hadn't had enough time to say goodbye to me. I'm with her. In Jacksonville."

It was almost like the entire car, and all of its occupants , sighed at once. She wouldn't betray us. Yet.

She hesitated.

"Yes."

A loud sigh erupted from the other end of the phone, static, more than an actual sound.

There was an angry whispering noise from the other line, I picked up a few words-not really trying to listen-crazy, week, now, Renee.

Bella cringed, listening to it. More tears fell down her face, silently crying.

"Yes. I'm sorry. Look, Dad, I need to go. I'll call you later."

She snapped the phone shut, dropping it on the floor. Emmett leaned down, scooping it up, fiddling with the buttons before handing it back to me. There was a message on the screen-

_R U sure dat was right? _

I groaned internally, shutting the phone with just a bit more force than was necessary. When I opened it, there was a small crack that ran from the topmost part of the screen to the right. It still worked, regardless, and it wasn't like I needed my phone that much. Alice, Jasper, and Emmett all had theirs.

The phone made a near-mute dinging noise in my hand. I looked at it, surprised to hear it making a sound. I flipped it open, looking at the screen. It had a blue envelope on it and a huge phrase on the top of the screen:

**You've got mail!**

I groaned, aloud this time.

_Think bout it_

I rolled my eyes, my fingers moving across the keypad.

I looked at the message before I sent it.

_You can just think what you want to tell me, you know that? _

I pressed the send button and waited.

The phone dinged again.

_Thes si Mor3 fun_

I rolled my eyes again, shutting the phone with as little force as I could muster. The screen didn't crack this time.

_Edward? We need to go hunt. It's been a week for me and nearly two for you. We _really _need to find somewhere before we go crazy. Especially with Bella being so close. _

I made a temporary decision in my mind, sending Alice a vision of what would happen if we stopped to hunt right here. No trees, no cover.

_Well fine. Turn around and we can stop in that town we passed awhile ago. Wildlife aplenty. And Bella can take a rest. Anyone can see she's not comfortable sleeping in the car with us. _

I made another decision, waiting as she received a vision of her telling Jasper and Emmett.

_Right._

She started talking, keeping her face completely straight ahead. She was talking too low, too quiet, and too quickly for Bella to hear, but Jasper and Emmett would understand her just as well if she were speaking normally.

"We're going to turn around and stop for awhile, hunt before we keep going. Carlisle should be calling soon, as well. I would expect him to brief us on what's going on, what we need to do. Tell Bella."

Bella didn't react. She wouldn't, not being able to hear, but the movement as Jasper and Emmett leaned forward to hear her better would have, should have alerted her to something. It seemed she didn't care anymore.

I turned the steering wheel to the right, swinging the car around. Bella flew off to the right in response to the movement, almost ending up in Jasper's lap, but she held on to the bottom of the seat to restrain herself. Of course, none of us were affected by inertia.

"We're going to stop back at Fort Nelson, take a rest. We'll be back on the road by morning tomorrow."

Jasper was leaning away as he spoke to her, almost pressing his face against the glass in an attempt to get away from her scent. He hadn't been breathing the entire time he was in the car, and the hunting trip the other day hadn't really sustained him for very long, due to our little…spat. I could hear his difficulties and Alice always saw them. He had to hunt so much more often than the rest of us, and we tried our hardest to make things easier for him. In normal circumstances, which, obviously, these weren't. _(A/N: Hope this answers your question, nothingleft!) _

We reached the town quickly, driving at a speed of nearly 120 miles an hour it only took about fifteen minutes. We found a small, expensive hotel in the farthest end of the town, Alice, Emmett, and I going inside to get a room while Jasper parked the car. Alice walked up to the desk, a glistening smile on her face. She folded her arms across the desk, her shoulders barely over the height. She cocked her head, still with that smile on her face.

"What rooms do you have open?"

The man at the desk turned around, having not noticed that she'd appeared. He looked at her and his eyes nearly popped out of his head; he brushed his hands over his grey suit as he walked toward her. He tried to match her smile, but not coming anywhere near success. He leaned toward her, breathing in more loudly than he thought as he inhaled her scent.

"How may I help you, miss?"

_Dang, she's beautiful._

Her smile widened.

"I need a room for…" she paused, appearing to calculate. "…five." She raised her hands up off the desk, intertwining her fingers and resting her head on them. Her smile was alluring.

"Certainly, miss. Give me a moment."

He typed on his computer for a moment, thinking overly crude thoughts, then turned back to Alice.

"I have a penthouse suite available. Six double beds, a small kitchen, whirlpool bathtub."

She shook her head casually, still smiling as her hair waved over her face, not as a denial but a show to catch the clerk's attention.

"That'll be fine."

His eyes bulged a bit.

"The rate is quite steep. Forty five hundred a night." He pushed a piece of paper toward her after scribbling a few numbers on it.

She didn't even look at the paper, only reached into her pocket and handed him a roll of bills. The out most one was a hundred, and the roll was at least three inches thick.

"This should cover it."

He blinked, then took the money, secreting it away in a pocket inside his jacket.

"Okay, I'll need some information for the computer. Name?"

She leaned closer toward him.

"Mrs. Alice Cullen."

_Mrs? What? She can't be over eighteen! How can she be married?" _

Ironically, at that exact moment, Jasper walked in the door.

Getting over the surprise, he typed the name into the computer. He asked her more questions, address, phone number, things that I highly doubted he actually needed, but more _wanted. _I didn't pay much attention as she rattled off a fake address, somewhere in Ontario, and telephone number, making up fake parents and a fake life story.

"We'll only be here tonight," Alice said, turning away from the desk and walking toward Jasper.

The clerk was trying his hardest to get over Alice, telling himself that she was rude and hideous and stupid, things that were definitely not true, things that he couldn't even get himself to believe.

We took an elevator up to the third floor, Jasper opting to walk, Alice following him. He wanted to avoid being in a confined space with Bella until he hunted. It bothered me too, of course, but being in the car for so long had..desensitized me, one might say. So Emmett and I took the elevator while Alice and Jasper walked. Of course, Bella was there too, but I was trying my hardest to ignore that fact.

The room was huge, the six double beds almost glaring at me, as a reminder of what could never be, what I was. Why this whole thing was happening.

Bella walked straight across the room, collapsing on the room farthest away from the door, closest to the huge window. She was asleep in an instant, murmuring as she fell deeper into her REM cycle.

I envied her in that moment, the ease of sleep. She looked peaceful as she laid there, the traces of worry and sadness erased from her face. Her arms splayed out from her sides, her legs intertwined in a knot I wouldn't have thought possible for a human. Alice stood up from her perch on one of the dressers, ripping a blanket off another bed and placed it over her, disappearing right after she realized that I was watching. I heard her in the kitchen a few seconds later, talking with Jasper.

Bella's face became distorted and her legs started moving in a violent motion. Within about thirty seconds, the blanket was on the floor. She curled up into a ball, quivering slightly. She'd picked the bed directly next to the air conditioning, which was, incidentally, turned on the highest cold setting. She began murmuring something about blood and vampires, which made me cringe. It seemed like she was remembering that day back in the biology room, when I'd nearly killed her. I couldn't imagine killing her now.

She rolled over, still shaking. On a whim, I stood, walking across the room. I lifted the thick blanket off the floor and draped it over her body. She stretched out immediately, sighing as she did.

Emmett came through the kitchen door, holding his cell phone, open, in his palm. He was smiling, widely.

"Carlisle called."

--

**Semi-cliffhanger, I suppose. But it's not a bad one, so I guess that's okay. I hope this will satisfy you guys for awhile! I'm surprised I could even write this, I took the practice ACT this morning and my brain kind of turned to mush. But, it's here!**

**Please please please review! And I need some help identifying kinks in the story and how to fix them, and I really need some encouragement to keep this going, so…compliments? Long reviews always make me feel good.**

**Oh, and another thing, I absolutely **_**love **_**answering questions from my readers! So if you have anything you're confused about, anything you just want to know for the curiosity of knowing it, absolutely anything, please please please ask me! I love answering questions! Sooo much!**

**And if you haven't, please go vote on my poll.**

**Thanks for reading and (hopefully) reviewing!**


	11. Author's Note, Numero Dos

**Okay, firstly, an apology.**

**This isn't a real chapter.**

**Again.**

**Really really really sorry.**

**But I do have some happy/saddening news like stuff.**

**I'm taking an official hiatus until the fifth. I'm rereading the entire Twilight series before reading Breaking Dawn and I'm staying away from fanfiction so I can re-define my definitions of Edward and Bella and everyone else (correctly). And I'm probably going to re-read Breaking Dawn some five times before meeting Stephenie ****Meyer on the fifth. **

**The reason this is good is because it's an official hiatus now, instead of an infinite one. Expect a chapter close to the seventh, because I'll be home around then, maybe not until the eighth. Close to that. So now you know at least when to expect it, I guess.**

**Bear with me for another week or two and then I'll get concentrating!!**

**Thanks so much for your patience!**

**bettingonalice123**


	12. Author's Note, Numero Tres

**Okay, more apologies are in order. It appears that that hiatus will be going on just a bit longer. Or maybe indefinitely.**

**After reading the first 500 or so pages of Breaking Dawn, I'm completely in shock. I seriously feel like I'm being ripped apart. It's like reading bad fanfiction. I can't get through it. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to write anything related to Twilight anymore. It's painful, honestly. I'll try, but no promises. **

**The hiatus could continue on for months for all I know. Maybe years, depending on how long it takes to get over this. If it can't get better-I'll have to stop writing Solstice. **

**Don't delete me yet. There's hope. I'm going to try my hardest. But there are no promises. **

**Review or PM me and tell me what you think of Breaking Dawn. I'm interested to get other opinions. **

**I'm really sorry about this, guys. Try to believe in me for just a bit longer. **


	13. Planning

**Omg guys, guess what? We broke eighty reviews!! I am ecstatic! I never ever ever expected this story to do anywhere near so well, and now, here I am with seventy reviews! Thanks sooo much for your patronage (big fancy word-yay me!) and I hope you keep it up!**

**Another thing: I'm going to start mixing up the POVs here in a bit, this one is Edward's, but I'm going to have Carlisle, Rosalie, Charlie, and maybe even Renee in there later. So be sure you check the POV before you start reading so you're not totally confused. **

**Next thing: I have a new poll in my profile that I really need you all to vote one-it refers to my next story after The Change and Solstice, and I really really want opinions, so please vote!**

**Okay, me, being known for excessively long author's notes, have some news.**

**This **_**will **_**be my last fanfiction chapter for awhile. I'm taking a break from fanfiction and actually exploring writing some of my own characters and storylines. I'm going to start out with a storyline I came up with back in 6****th**** grade and work with it. I'm really excited, actually, to get back to those characters. But, I won't be **_**completely **_**deserting you. I just opened a free-webs site, which will basically be a following of my writing journey. I'm not saying you have to go there and read my writing samples and blogs (which as of now don't exist, but they'll be there later) but if you want to I'd appreciate it beyond belief. **

**The link-minus the spaces, of course. If you want a direct link, it's in my profile.**

**www. free webs . com / writing journey /**

**I hope you'll go, at least to look. **

**I will be returning to the world of fanfiction when my characters get too frustrating. Usually, when I get writer's block I go and write something completely opposite, which will be fanfiction in this case. So I will be returning every month or so. **

**Oh, and yes, that does mean that I actually did get over my BD shock. I love it now. **

**Wow. That wins the prize for the longest author's note ever! **

**Thanks for reading and remember to review after this!!**

**--**

**Edward's POV**

I took the phone without a single moment of hesitation.

"Hello?"

"Edward? Where are you?"

"Fort Nelson."

Other explanations were not necessary. Carlisle knew the landscape and towns of every country better than most geographers.

"You have to keep moving. The wolves are following us-we've started down toward Phoenix to try to avoid them. I've no doubt they have a few trackers on you as well."

I nodded, simply an affirmation for myself.

"We'll hunt today and leave tonight." I paused.

"Carlisle…"

"Yes?"

"What should we do if they attack?"

A deep sigh resonated through the other line.

"Avoid confrontation if possible. But if they do…"

The pause lasted a few moments.

"Edward…do what you have to do."

His words held so much more than what he said. I wouldn't let my surrogate father down.

"I will." I snapped the phone shut, my words resonating through my head with the responsibility of his expectations.

I turned my head around, away from the wall that I had been facing, taking in the room of vampires, my family. It was my job now to protect them and to get them away from what I'd placed them into.

I wouldn't fail them.

My eyes traced them, from Emmett to Jasper, my eyes lingering on Alice's face. I nodded.

"We need to do some planning."

Our meeting, as it were, took place in the kitchenette. Jasper found himself uncomfortable discussing such intimate plans with Bella in the room, even though she was soundly in slumber, so it was either the kitchen or the bathroom; Alice fervently refused the latter. She was perched up on a counter now, which actually was taller than her. Her legs dangled off, swinging in a seemingly leisurely motion, but her thoughts proved that she was concentrating on not smashing the cabinet.

Emmett and Jasper merely leaned against the wall, not really needing the support, but acting human was so much ingrained in our heads that we acted in that manner without really noticing what we were doing.

I took a chair from the table across the room and sat in it.

I interlaced my fingers and rested my head on the platform they made.

"What _are _we doing, Edward?"

The harsh words came from Emmett.

"We are having a meeting, currently Emmett. Though I'll guess that's not exactly what you were referring to." Alice was the one to answer him, trying, as she does, to lighten up to mood, glancing at me with her tiny grin as she finished.

"You are correct. I _don't _know what we're doing. That's why we're here."

Emmett opened his mouth to speak again, but I raised a finger, asking him to pause.

"Let me at least lay out the facts before we debate. Firstly, we are currently heading toward Alaska, to take refuge with the Denali clan so we can sort things out. This act is now unnecessary, seeing as we are sorting these things now. Alaska is still an option, though.

"Secondly, there are eight wolves following us as we speak. Their obvious motives are to kill us, seeing how they have right to now. Thirdly, Carlisle, Rosalie, and Esme have just hit the Californian border and have no intentions to meet back up with us. They are also being followed."

I looked around the room.

"Fourthly, and finally, there is a girl asleep in the room over there…" I changed my train of thought, glaring at Emmett sharply. "Who will _not_ be killed."

I held up my palm for silence, continuing.

"We need to make a plan, today, before we hunt. We must leave tonight, as early as is possible. It is our job now to protect everyone who I've pulled into this mess, including Bella."

"It's the least I can do." My voice came out softer than I had wanted.

"Edward…" Alice's softness paralleled mine.

"But how?" Jasper voice was scathing.

I raised my head, staring him in the face.

"We cannot fight unless absolutely necessary." I closed my eyes. "That is for Carlisle."

"This is my plan. We continue on to Alaska as before and wait. The Denali will help us when the wolves show up; we can easily overpower eight if there are more of us. Then we can go home like none of this happened." Emmett's thoughts, as would be expected, were centered around a fight.

"There's no need to engage them." Jasper sent a wave of calm out as he spoke. "Perhaps we can meet with them and form a new treaty, even if only temporary." He paused, looking thoughtful. "But it would be best to have Carlisle for that. They trust him. As much as they can trust any of us, anyway."

I looked at Alice.

"Would it work?"

She furrowed her brow, thinking her hardest. "Of course, I can't see for sure because it involves the wolves. But my guess would be that they wouldn't want to give up the chance to kill us. It's what they've been waiting for."

Jasper sighed.

"It appears that a fight is the only way out. It either that or running forever."

I met his gaze.

"Then perhaps we will run."

Silence.

I cleared my throat.

"We continue on to Alaska. Though they can follow us to the ends of the earth, will they be so willing to walk into a combined clan with equal members to their own, _ready_ for a fight? Perhaps. But perhaps not. If they get too close, we can move on. Enemies or not, I want to avoid killing here."

Alice shook her head.

"They'll follow us for years. There would be no end to it. There has to be a way out without killing or running."

Jasper cleared his throat.

I turned back his way.

"Yes, of course, we could always _try_ to forge a new treaty, but it's not likely it would take. That would likely end in a fight. We would have to find a way to contact them and arrange a neutral meeting place-no attacks, negotiations only. But it's unlikely they'd agree to even meet us without hostility."

"Perhaps it's the only chance we have."

There was no sound for at least three minutes. Then a creaking sound rang out from the other room. Either Bella was still restless or she'd just woken up.

I turned to Jasper quickly.

"We'll try. I don't know how we'll make contact, but we'll try. If it doesn't work, we _will _run." I hated the cowardly sound of the word.

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearing eight o' clock.

"Alice, call room service for Bella. We'll have to hunt now."

**Bella's POV**

I woke up unwillingly. My mind was suddenly alert, but my eyelids wouldn't open, and when they finally did, it felt like they were coated in lead. I groaned, rolling over in the bed, cringing at the loud squeaking tones.

The Cullens' were gone, from my sight line anyway; I could hear them quietly conversing in the other room. The muted speech became quicker suddenly, as if they'd sensed I was awake.

Great.

I swung my feet out of the bed, pausing for a moment. There was a blanket draped over the farthest end of the bed.

Had someone put a blanket on me when I'd fallen asleep?

If so, who?

…Would Edward?

I hurriedly shook the thought from my mind and stood. My legs were pure lead, an impossible weight to lift, so I stood where I was, trying to orient myself before moving.

In the end, it wasn't necessary, though. Alice came flitting into the room, grabbed the phone off of the wall and started murmuring random food items into it.

So this is breakfast.

I flopped back down in the bed, laying my feet on top of the blankets. Moments later, there was a knock on the door, which Alice opened. A man walked in, handed Alice a silver tray, and left.

She turned to me, dropping the tray in my lap from such a height that the biscuit that had been sitting on the edge bounced off and landed in the floor. I reached down to pick it up and set it back at the edge of the tray.

Eggs, bacon, everything typical for a breakfast. I glanced up, looking at Alice, who had turned her back to me.

"Thank you." I whispered, before grabbing a strip of bacon and biting into it like it was the last meal I'd ever eat.

--

**Expect another chapter coming soon. I don't want to end it here, but it's three in the morning and I want to post it, so I swear I'll get another chapter out very soon before continuing with my website.**

**Please review and Vote on My Poll, please!!**


	14. Escape

Okay, so clearly I can't stay away from fanfiction for very long. I came up with at least a hundred new story ideas, the best of which are posted in a poll on my profile, which I would LOVE if you'd vote on. Solstice will continue, though, don't worry.

My site is coming along pretty nicely, I fixed the glitch where no one could comment, so that's good now. I, again, urge you to go check it out, even just to leave a comment and then never reappear.

Oh, but if you're going to go just to ask me to read your Twilight fanfiction, don't bother. That really ticks me off…-.-. You know who you are.

At any rate, enjoy!

--

**Rosalie's POV**

This is stupid. Actually, I take that back. This is pointless _and_ stupid. It's because of Edward that I am now in Phoenix. It's because of Edward that I'm away from Emmett. It's because of Edward that we all had to leave the one place we love, that we feel at home.

Clearly, everything we're going through now is completely Edward's fault. If Carlisle hadn't snapped the phone shut before I got a chance to grab it, he would've gotten an earful.

Is anyone aware of the fact that I haven't brushed my hair in five days?

More importantly, does anyone _care?_

I suppose it's not about my hair. Not entirely anyway. The important thing is the danger Edward's placed us in. It's a wonder he isn't wanted for a homicide, with Bella as his accomplice. But, no, the police are determined to refuse to see what's right before their eyes, the consistently say that someone _else_ came to the school and massacred sixteen students.

Yeah, that would happen. If they really had wanted to cause a mass-murder scene, why not shoot up a huge high school, like Phoenix's?

Exactly, because they didn't.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad for Forks High School's smallness. If it didn't exist, we'd still be in Alaska. I don't have any problems with Alaska, technically, but it was nice to get away from the ice. And it's nice to see sunshine occasionally, even if you can't be seen _in_ it. But now, we may never get back.

Edward's fault.

Edward's fault.

Edward's fault.

It's hard, right now, for him. For all of us. But why he's thinking of a human girl before us, his family, is beyond me. He's obsessed. Too many lives he's taken and he doesn't want to add to the list.

But _we _may be the next casualties.

Little did we know, of course, that werewolves are incredible trackers. Not all of them, of course, just the ones that are following us now. That's why we're in "The land of the sun". Phoenix.

We're staying inside the car 24/7. No breaks, no sunshine. We'll check into a hotel past nightfall, then go out and hunt tonight before continuing east. Carlisle says we'll fly if we have to.

God, I miss Emmett.

Carlisle turned the Mercedes into a little drive-through, for some kind of little fast-food restaurant. I raised an eyebrow.

"I know we're all upset with what we are right now, but I think this is a bit extreme, Carlisle. I am _not_ eating that slop."

He shook his head.

"It's merely keeping up pretenses, Rosalie. The car behind us has been following us for at least three hundred or so miles. They may not wonder why we haven't eaten in that time period, but I'd rather not take chances at this point."

He ordered the first things on the menu, then whipped out a small, black credit card to pay with it. The bag was handed through the window, and Carlisle sped off.

Esme handed the bag, tattooed with red and yellow logos, to me. I took it in between two fingers, then tossed it to the floor in front of the empty seat. The smell was repulsive, grease and fat. I resolved to throw it out the window the next chance I got.

I rolled down my window, leaning my head toward the rushing air. My hair whipped toward it, small strands of it caught in the stream. It flew into my face, blinding me, only temporarily. I tucked it securely behind my ear, then leaned my face farther out the window. The air rushed over the planes of my face, the smells registering subconsciously.

_Pine, elk, beer bottles. _

The beautiful landscape here was scarred. The humans, even when they weren't present, were there. Bottled, cups and cans littered every inch of the outskirts of the forest. It's hard to think of yourself as repulsive when you see how disgusting human habits are.

Hard, but never impossible.

I sighed, rolling the window back up. It's always too risky. Always has been, but even more so now.

Again, Edward's fault.

I turned my head away from the window, sighing again. The black velvet of the interior enveloped my vision, the shock of the sudden change barely registering in my mind.  
_God, I miss Emmett._

**Bella's POV**

I woke up again about three hours later. It was dark, the only evidence that it was coming from the lack of shimmer around the edges of the curtains.

A lone lamp shone from the corner of the room, a yellow light.

I rose gently, bending my elbows back and placing my palms flat on the bed to steady myself.

The room was empty.

I rose more urgently, tentatively testing my legs, pleased when they held. I glanced around the room, the emptiness unnerving me.

There were no sounds from the kitchenette.

I hesitantly crept over to the door, placing my hands flat on it, my ear pressed against it.

No sounds.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door.

Empty.

I swung around, finding the bathroom door open and unoccupied.

I was alone.

Shuddering breaths violently wracking my chest, I moved toward the main door and placed my hand on the doorknob. I turned it.

The door didn't open.

So they'd locked it then, when they left for wherever they are.

I turned away, feelings that I didn't understand running through my system.

A shimmer of metal caught my eye. I whipped my head around to where it had been, on the floor right next to what had been my bed. I dropped to my knees next to it and picked up the object, between two fingers, frightened.

I went back to the door, shaking the doorknob as violently as I could manage. Surely there would be some way to get it open.

When the door swooped out into the hallway, I stopped breathing.

With only a miniscule pause, gripping the small, silver key ring, I ran, out and away, and into the cold, black night.

**Edward's POV**

A slight smell registered in my senses and I smiled grimly. The forest loomed in front of us, and I shook my head. If only I could take back what I had done.

Emmett and Jasper were already in the outskirts of the forest, ready to find whatever wildlife we happened to happen upon.

I turned, looking at the nearly invisible highway behind us, and sighed.

With only a miniscule pause, barely holding on to what was left of my humanity, I ran, away from civilization, and straight into the uninviting, black forest.

--

**Gurgh. Too short. Sorry, I couldn't extend this any longer, but I hope it's got enough…stuff to keep you entertained. **

**Like I said before, I hope you'll go vote on my poll and please take a look at my website.**

**If not, the least you can do is review. We're almost to 100!!**


	15. Disappearing Futures

**Hnmmmmm. . .How long has it been? Months? Well, I hope you all haven't deserted me.**

**I've been kind of going off on a tangent lately. I'm writing almost 100% of the time at school, which is lots of fun, just not on fanfiction because I got rather bored with it. But I finished a 27 page short story and am a sixth or so of a way through a novel-like thing. But I kind of started missing my fanfiction world. . .so I'm going to try to return and jump back into Solstice and my other long forgotten stories. **

**Please review if you're still out there!**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Bella's POV

My hands shook violently as I opened the door to the car that was glinting dimly, resplendently silver, even in the dim moonlight. I fastened my seat belt when I got inside, shoved the key into the ignition and sped out of the parking lot as fast as I trusted myself to go.

The night was black and still. A vague wind whistled outside the car, barely ruffling the leaves of the trees that surrounded the highway in a black and shady cloak.

I was vaguely aware of a sense of desolation and urgency. I was running-that much was obvious. But how long would it be before they came back for me? How long would it be before Alice opened the door to the hotel room and instantly knew I was gone? They would leave immediately, running at twice the speed of the car after me-barefoot on the cold, hard pavement, hidden under the cover of night.

I would be defenseless against them. I imagined Edward's face appearing on the side of the car, stopping it with his bare hands. It would be easy for them.

The most prominent question in my mind, though, was wondering fervently why they had left the key. It was obvious that they didn't forget anything. No detail was left behind. So why had they missed something like leaving a car key with their captive? And why had the door, though it had obviously been locked, opened at the little force I could muster?

The night sped behind me, and I wondered.

Alice's POV

I ran at a full speed ahead. There was a small colony of elk ahead, three or four by the smell of it. It hadn't been that long since I had hunted, but it was a relief to me. So much stress lately and it was a relief to give in to primal instincts and hunt.

Before the deer could run, I sprang.

And as I sunk my teeth into the male's neck, my vision blanked out and a new one replaced it.

It showed a still image-almost an overview of a dark highway and two long headlights stretching out on it. The windows of the car on it were darkened, but it was instantly obvious to me what it meant, and not just because there was a vague glint of silver.

I fell off of the deer, and it struggled to limp off.

"Edward!" I cried, my voice desolate and high pitched.

I rose carefully, registering the deer's frantic heartbeat. Edward appeared beside me and snapped the deer's neck, muttering something about putting it out of its misery. I looked at him, his eyes dark and troubled, and he avoided my gaze. I knew that he had already seen what I had, and I knew that he understood. But for some reason, he was avoiding action.

"Edward?"

His face rose slowly to parallel mine.

His voice was almost completely inaudible.

"I had to, Alice. Please understand."

His voice was full of a pain that broke me. I leaned closer to him, his hands now covering his face. My hand hovered near his shoulder, then rested on it.

"Edward. Are you ready to take the risk?"

His head shook slightly.

"I had to," he repeated.

I wrapped my arms gingerly around him. It wasn't often that Edward needed comfort, but this was one of those rare times. He didn't respond.

"I'll call Carlisle. We can meet back up in Alaska." I removed his hands from his face, although it took a considerable amount of force, and looked straight into his eyes. "We _will_ get through this."

His eyes never registered mine.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, and I rose and called out to Emmett and Jasper. They appeared at my side, Jasper with a thin streak of blood down the corner of his mouth. I took a step toward him and wiped it off with the side of my hand and he replied by kissing me, ever so gently. I closed my eyes and held my body close to his, even as he released me. Emmett was looking away for once, no doubt remembering and missing Rosalie. I kept my hand against Jasper's as I pulled out my cell phone and hit the first button. It dialed Carlisle's number and I registered only one ring before he picked up.

"Alice? Is everything alright?"

I closed my eyes again.

"Not particularly. Edward let Bella leave and we're still in Fort Nelson. The Volvo is gone."

There was a pause on the other line.

"How exactly did Edward let Bella leave?"

I clenched my teeth.

"He left her the key."

Another, longer pause.

"What is your plan?"

I took a deep, but unnecessary breath.

"We can get to Alaska on our own and meet you there. Where are you?"

"Phoenix. Give us two days."

"Thank you, Carlisle," I whispered, then snapped the phone shut. I slid it into my pocket and started the run into the night.

Bella's POV

It was around two hours later that I realized I had absolutely no idea where I was going. The roads all looked the same, the same snow-bitten landscape that tortured my sight as a reminder that I might never find my way home.

Stupid vampires don't need maps.

I had searched the car as thoroughly as I possibly could and had found nothing that could help me on my way. I presumed I was still in Canada, but for all I knew, I could have been driving the wrong way-into the ocean or actually to the place I was trying to run from.

Along with my confusion came remembrances of my first day at Forks High School-that had ended in this tragedy and had flipped my life upside down in a vortex of mythical creatures and death. A solitary tear ran down my cheek, thinking about Forks. I hated Forks, but now I would give most anything to be back there, to be back to normalcy and Charlie and my sort-of friends from that first day-though for all I knew, most of them were dead. Which had been in the biology class?

I shook my head and rid myself of the memory, but it crept back just as quickly. Edward's eyes filled my vision, a mystery unsolved and unknown. He was compelling in his own way, a repelling force that attracted at the same time. He was beautiful, but he was a killer.

Sometimes.

He had saved and almost ended my life in just two days. The Corvette entered my mind, the red force that had nearly ended everything. I couldn't help but wonder why he had saved me. He regretted not killing me when he had the chance - that much I could see. Rosemary had said that they were just waiting for the perfect moment to kill me, that was what they always did.

For the first time, I saw her through the eyes of my former captors.

Her flame red hair billowed in the wind, but it was a symbol of threatening forces. Her dark eyes pierced her target with a deathly power.

The image was frightening.

I had never seen her in sheer anger, but I imagined that my interpretation of it would be startlingly accurate.

Is it possible that the werewolves could be the bad ones and I could have been protected by the ones I was running from?

The thought was impossible, so I shook it as well.

It was a magical world that I didn't fit in to; more importantly, didn't _want _to fit into. I wanted no part of their mythical world and their battles and kidnapping of mortals.

And yet, somehow, their world was now a part of mine.

Alice's POV I had visions as I ran. They pertained entirely to Bella. She was driving, confused, trying to find her way. And of Edward. The visions of him were of his depression, and of his weak flashes where his resolve broke, where he swore to go back immediately and stop her. Weak, though, they were, they still stirred in him more turmoil than he needed.

I also got flashes of Jasper and of his future. Nothing specifically significant, but I could see, at least, that his future was secure.

The flashes continued of those three, continuing until I finally decided to check on each of my family in turn.

Emmett, fine, as would be expected.

Esme and Carlisle appeared together, worried, but safe.

. . .

When I tried to envision Rosalie in my head, nothing appeared. Irritated, I pushed it harder, trying to see something relating to my sister.

Nothing.

Rosalie's future had disappeared.

-----

**As per tradition, I come back and give you a cliffhanger. I just love them too darn much. :)**

**I'll be surprised if I get more than three reviews on this chapter-I've been gone so long I'll bet 99% of you have given up on me!**

**But please, please, review if you're out there reading this.**

**I am quite surprised at how many random favorites and alerts I've gotten lately on this story-and pleased! I'm glad people out there are enjoying this, even if I'm so fickle about updating. **

**Thank you all so much for sticking with me!!**


	16. My 1st definitive update in a loong time

To my faithful readers:  
I guess that by now you all have realized that I'm not really keeping with the whole updating thing. I apologize for that. So, instead of giving you excuses this time, I'm going to give you a basic rundown of what's going to happen next:

1)I am continuing my complete fanfiction hiatus until at least late summer. I'm burnt out.

2) I'm going to face the reality of Solstice-that really, it has no direction and need fixed

2a) I will decide one of three things:

-Abandon Solstice (not really an option since I don't do that-don't get alarmed)

-Continue as is and try to straighten out the mess I've written

-Completely rewrite the story.

3)I will wrestle with my decision for a few more months, then finally commit to it.

4)Then, after a few months of updating fairly regularly, I will slip into a mundane depression and decide that I completely suck and writing and delete it.

Okay, fine, the fourth isn't certain, but I wouldn't be surprised. Right now I'm leaning toward option three, but I don't know because I'm not committed to making a decision on anything fanfiction right now.

Instead, I'm on fictionpress! Okay, that's not relevant, but if you even care, you can find me under randomwriter123.

I'm sorry for how much I've let you down, if you want to give advice or yell at me, I'm open to it all.

Thank you for trying to believe in me.

~Bettingonalice123


	17. Please read:My goodbye and dedications

I don't know if you would like me better or worse if I completely stopped updating at all, so here I am, updating with another non-chapter.

Say bye-bye to Solstice.

Okay, so not exactly, but I'm thinking that it's highly unlikely that I will ever be able to write fanfiction again. I've been writing all kinds of original material and am absolutely loving it-I'm really finding myself as a writer and am slowly rebuilding my confidence. I'm afraid of what will happen to that if I go back. But it would hurt too much to delete Solstice and I don't want to divulge the plot because of the off chance I decide to write it again someday.

So tell me-what do you want? Do you even care if I quit? Do you want me to go back and rewrite everything until I'm satisfied or drop it?

Well, since I know I won't get much of a response to this, I guess I'll get a few things finished.

I have to thank a few people-one in particular.

dsmldejection-the only reader who has actually reviewed every single chapter of Solstice and has encouraged me with that and her words. And despite what she says, she's awesomest writer in the history of the world. I could only hope to be so good. Thank you so much.

HeswamtoFrance-though I doubt she still reads Solstice, thank you for your dedication and encouragement through my craziness.

Yerosmyhero-My sister, just for being there, even though she hasn't read the last few chapters of this. I still love you. :)

A few other people-indigenousbleu, Gotsta Have My Hardy, nothingleft, and all of the people who stuck with me or didn't stick with me. Even if you gave up, thank you for the time you dedicated to me and Solstice.

I want you all to know that I really appreciate everything you've done for me.

Thank you, and (to be dramatic), goodbye

For the last time…

~bettingonalice123


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